CINEMASPORTS AT SHADOW ART FAIR - WINNERS ANNOUNCED AND ONLINE

On Saturday, July 10, 2010 the Ann Arbor Film Festival hosted a Cinemasports event at Ypsilanti’s biannual Shadow Art Fair. Cinemasports is a free, fun filmmaking challenge where self-assembled teams are required to include assigned "ingredients" into their 3-minute movie made in 10 hours or less.

The day started at 10:30 am when all participating teams arrived at the Shadow Art Fair’s main venue, the Corner Brewery, for the ingredients announcement: 1) a silhouette 2) an unresolved mystery 3) making a pass and 4) instructions. Following the announcement the dozen teams went scrambling with just 10 hours to make their best film possible! By 9pm that evening the completed films were submitted for our backyard beer garden screening and competition.

The films were juried by past Cinemasports winner, Andrea Steves, Jennifer Albaum of the Shadow Art Fair and myself. I think I can speak for all the jurors when I say we were impressed by the quality and creativity of the teams’ submissions considering the extreme time constraints. Among the 9 finished films we had a three way tie for first place: the energetic comedy Bocce(d) from iTeam, Now There’s an “i” in Team; C. Jacqueline Wood’s sweet and melancholic piece How to Mend a Broken Heart (screened vertically with AAFF director Donald Harrison holding the projector sideways!) and the clever public domain footage mash up Oil Babies by Jon Moodie. These winning movies can be viewed below.

Thank you to everyone who came out to watch and participate in the AAFF’s Cinemasports at Shadow Art Fair!